Hades
by NerdySkeleton
Summary: Oh, it was hell all right. She just didn't know it.
1. Chapter 1

There was a house. It wasn't all _that _impressive, but the fact that it hadn't fallen apart yet was a feat in itself.

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><p>Valkyrie Cain folded her legs pretzel-style and inhaled deeply. She could smell the warning of rain in the air in the chilly early morning air somewhere off in the distance, and she decided to chase it. Her legs carried her fast and strong, and she had no intention of stopping.<p>

Well, until that obnoxious car sped past her, only to turn sharply and stop, cutting off her path.

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><p>Valkyrie Cain folded her legs pretzel-style and inhaled deeply.<p>

Guess she wouldn't go running anymore.

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><p>I have not written in what feels like forever. That's horrible. One should not do that. One's school shouldn't be ridiculously annoying and give a lot of work like that. Anyways, I've gotten a nice chunk of what I consider my beginning done, so for a while I'll have already finished chapters to upload. OH BOY.<p>

This story is crazy, and I love it.

You know what/who else I love?

**MADEMISE MORTE. **

I thank her for her lovely critiques and bits of advise she gave on the beginning few chapters of this. Also she's just pretty awesome in general. (I mean, come on, entire year-long stories two years consecutively! Goodness gracious XD)

Anyways. I really hope you like the beginning chapters for this story I got going on here. I know I really enjoy writing it~

:D


	2. Chapter 2

Andrei Dag happily carried his bride, Valkyrie Cain, across the threshold. She laughed and jumped from his arms to kiss him passionately.

"Happy to be finally married?" asked he.

She nodded enthusiastically and replied, "I've been dying for this moment for my whole life, it feels like." She paused and took in the surroundings of their new home, big and bright. "It's a bit of a fixer-upper, though," she mumbled, "but it's nothing we can't handle, right?"

Andrei nodded and bared his forearms, which were both donned with black as coal gauntlets that started from his wrist and stopped at his elbows. "And besides, dear," he added, shaking the gauntlets and allowing black shadows to pour from them, "we have our magic, don't we?"

Valkyrie laughed again and gripped the armor. "Yeah," she murmured in his ear low, "but we can worry about all this later can't we?"

"We most certainly can."

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><p>Valkyrie trotted down the rickety stairs and smiled as she noticed Andrei's failed attempts at painting the walls in the kitchen. Splatters of blue paint were in his hair and stained his hands and shirt. The brush he held in his hand tightly dripped with the paint, and it hung limply from the excess liquid on its bristles. Valkyrie laughed at the sight.<p>

"You are not a very handy man, are you?"

"No," he admitted. "I can do many, many other things quite well and yet working around the house is not one of my strong suits. Can you ever accept me for what I am?" he asked, winking.

Valkyrie shook her head sadly. "I'm afraid I'll have to leave you then, Andrei, my love."

"A pity," he growled playfully. "Perhaps I shall have to distract you from leaving then…" He trailed off and laughed loudly when Valkyrie ran from him as soon as he threw the paintbrush down on the ground. He chased her through the house; they jumped over couches covered with tarps and chairs covered with cloth to protect their old and antique like floral patterns from the paint.

Andrei managed to finally catch Valkyrie by pulling a sheet from a couch out from under her, forcing her down to the ground where he pounced and kept her there.

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><p>"How about we just stay in bed all day and pretend that our honeymoon never has to end, okay?"<p>

"I _wish _we could do that."

"And why can't we?"

"Life isn't that simple, love."

Valkyrie sighed and sat up in bed. She watched Andrei slip from the covers and gather up his clothes from the floor. He dressed simply for work; he always wore a white button-up shirt with the sleeves rolled to show his gauntlets; his pants were also neatly pressed and black like his weapons; he ran a hand through his rumpled brown hair and rubbed his tired brown eyes. Andrei bent down to Valkyrie and kissed her sweetly on the lips.

"Don't get into trouble while I'm gone, all right?" he joked.

"I'll try to burn the house down."

"Good."

He swiftly left the room, and Valkyrie heard the front door slam a few minutes later. She stretched briefly and dragged herself from bed and started her day.

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><p>Valkyrie didn't do much in the daytime. She cleaned up a bit around the place and thought up plans for what to do with the house to fix it up when the two of them had the time and patience for it, but that was almost the only thing she did.<p>

Valkyrie sometimes wondered why she didn't get out more.

Why did she stay in this large house that was falling apart? The house with cherry wood floors, dark green walls, itty-bitty closets, the large and extra bedrooms, and the attic that refused to open no matter what she did.

What did Andrei always say in response to her questions about going out with him? "Oh, dear, you wouldn't like what's out there." That's it. That's what he'd say.

She wondered how she had even _survived_ if the world was so awful and dangerous, but she never asked Andrei. He always seemed to be a bit sad about it, somehow. Unresolved experiences? hatred? depression? Andrei was always happy, Valkyrie noticed, but then those were times where he'd come home sad and tired. Valkyrie would ask what was wrong, but he would always smile and laugh it off.

She shrugged and got back to sweeping.

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><p>Yeeep.<p>

Thanks for reading, hoped you liked it, and sorry for any mistakes! :DD


	3. Chapter 3

"Welcome home!"

"Ah, I love to hear you say that."

"Speaking of home, Andrei…"

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><p>"It would be awful to go to bed angry with each other, dear," Andrei muttered and extended his hand towards Valkyrie. She turned to look at him and accept his hand. Slowly he pulled her up and wrapped her into his arms and hugged her tightly.<p>

"I don't mean to yell at you," said he quietly.

"I understand."

"I fear that you don't."

"You're right." Valkyrie pulled away from Andrei and looked at him squarely. "I do not."

"I wish you did, dear." Looking at her shining eyes, he quickly added, "And I'm sorry that you don't. I don't think you would understand why you can't leave this house."

"Why wouldn't I understand it, Andrei? Why?"

He sighed and tried to smile lightly. "The…magnitude of what is wrong…it's frightening. I think you would be too scared. You are fragile, my dear."

Valkyrie felt tears begin to run slowly down her face. "I suppose that is true."

"I love you."

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><p>Andrei inhaled deeply and stretched. The sleepy smile on his face instantly vanished when he realized Valkyrie wasn't next to him. He flew from bed and ripped open the door and charged downstairs. He stumbled into the kitchen and breathed in relief.<p>

"What are you even doing?" Valkyrie asked.

"I…" he faltered and straightened. "Good morning."

She smiled and rolled her eyes and handed him a mug of coffee. "I don't know why I married you," said she, joking.

"A wonder of the world," he responded and bit into a piece of bagel and took a sip of the coffee and rushed back upstairs to dress. Valkyrie was still in the kitchen when he returned back downstairs fully dressed. He found her staring blankly out the window.

"I'll try to be back early today, dear," he said, trying to make it less horrible.

She shrugged. "It doesn't matter, Andrei. Stay as long as you need to at work." She reached forward and kissed him tenderly on the lips. "I'll see you later tonight, okay?"

"I love you." He kissed her back and strolled from the house.

Valkyrie sighed.

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><p>Valkyrie gripped the windowsill and climbed onto it, balancing gracefully. She adjusted her black jacket as she looked at the neat and green grass and towering trees in front of the house and took a leap.<p>

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><p><strong>I looove all your reviews. They make me smile and laugh. Also your confusion is absolutely delicious; that's going to be my favorite part of this story. <strong>

**Also I figured I'd try to start bolding my author's notes, since there are so many line breaks in this already, and even I was slightly confused at where it all ended and began XD (Whoops, fail.) **

**Thanks so much for reading! Sorry for any mistakes! :DD**


	4. Chapter 4

Valkyrie Cain landed on her feet. She stood slowly and gasped.

Where was the grass?

The trees?

They were…gone.

There _were_ trees, but they were mangled and dead. Weeds and overgrown shrubs made a huge line up a few feet, like a defensive line against any outsides. But! But that's not what it looked like from inside the house!

Was it?

Valkyrie jumped at the sound of sudden snapping twigs a way off and took off running. She leaped through the line of bushes and cried out in pain as thorns and pricking little objects gripped at her face and neck and hair and coat. The jacket tore easily, Valkyrie found out that second. She kept running though. Branches hit her in the face, but that didn't stop her.

Valkyrie finally broke from the vegetation fortress a few minutes later. She checked the small cuts all over her body and hissed as blood dripped steadily from some.

She bent over to catch her breath and shot a fleeting glance back at the bushes to make sure there weren't any monsters after her. She turned to look ahead.

In front of her was _grass. _Miles and miles of grass! Tall, high, dead, green; it was everywhere. She once again adjusted her jacket and took off walking, trying not to let the snapping of twigs behind her scare her again. Her breathing was heavy, but she was still calming.

So far, Andrei had been wrong.

The world was rather pretty.

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><p>Probably around an hour and a half later, Valkyrie stopped walking. She was checking out her wounds to make sure none of them had grown bigger when she was tackled to the ground. Someone wrestled her down and had her arms pinned with their own hands. Valkyrie squirmed fruitlessly, but her captor had too strong of a hold.<p>

"You!" her captor snarled.

"What! Who are you? What do you want?"

Her attacker snarled again and opened their mouth wide and moved to chomp down on her neck. Valkyrie screamed and kicked upwards and hit the man in the crotch. He howled in pain and rolled off her, clutching himself. Valkyrie gasped and sucked in breath and then _ran_.

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><p>Valkyrie's mistake was fact that she looked back to see the progress of her assailant. She tripped on a small ditch in the ground, tumbled, and couldn't get back up again. In a flash, the man was on her again. He straddled her aching legs slowly and hoisted her up by pulling painfully on one arm. She cried out when she felt incredibly sharp nails pinch and prick the skin of her forearm, but that pain was nothing compared to when the man wove in close to nip and then chomp down on her neck.<p>

She shrieked over and over again until she felt the very, very sweet relief of welcoming death.

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><p>Or so she thought.<p>

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><p><strong>Thanks for reading and sorry for any mistakes! :DD<strong>


	5. Chapter 5

Valkyrie Cain woke with a jolt.

Literally, it was a jolt.

She could hear grass rustling beside her and low voices. She was too weak and, well, too close to death to hear or care what they were saying. Warm hands gripped her freezing ones and squeezed them tightly. She whimpered at the pain in her body.

"I know," she heard in her ear. A different and much, _much _colder hand touched her forehead rather roughly, which jostled her neck wounds, which made her scream in agony. The cold hand remained on her forehead, and it slowly drifted over her eyelids, and Valkyrie slowly lost consciousness and happily slept.

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><p>Valkyrie inhaled sharply and lifted her head up slightly. She looked around her familiar bedroom before her eyes finally caught Andrei, sitting in the corner. He was staring at her intently.<p>

"You have been asleep for six days," was the first thing from his mouth.

"Wha-"

"Please don't speak," he then added hastily. He, almost cautiously, walked over to the bed and sat down beside Valkyrie. "I almost lost you, dear."

"I di-"

"I'm not mad."

Valkyrie sighed and smiled.

"But please don't try that again, dear. I…I can not and will not have you out and about like that, okay?"

Valkyrie nodded, and Andrei bent forward to kiss her cheek. "Would you like to sit up? In a little bit I will need to change all these." He indicated all the gauzy bandages wrapped around her various limbs.

"I think I'd like to, yes," she replied quietly and allowed herself to be propped up with multiple fluffy pillows.

* * *

><p>Valkyrie healed within a few weeks.<p>

She asked Andrei if they found the man who had attacked her, but he said that they hadn't yet.

He stayed home with her for the weeks she was recovering, and every time she would ask if he needed to get back to work, he would shake his head and smile rather sadly.

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><p>Valkyrie sat bored. She was perched by the window, staring out of it rather wistfully. Today was windy, and the powerful winds bent and blew the trees and grass this way and that. And that got Valkyrie thinking to her trip outside the house.<p>

What could possibly cause the disappearing trees? And those sudden bushes lined up like a scraggly fortress? She couldn't think of anything that would explain that. Well, she couldn't think of any _reasonable_ explanation, at least. This mystery was constantly nagging at her mind, but she knew she couldn't ask Andrei about it; for one thing, he wouldn't answer, and for another thing, he'd probably get mad. Rarely did he get mad, but when he did, it wasn't ever very fun to be around him.

No, no it was not…

* * *

><p>"Valkyrie!"<p>

"Caper!"

Caper Lost moved to hug Valkyrie tight. "I heard from Andrei what exactly happened," he said as he pulled back, "and it sounded awful. We're working hard to catch the guy, so don't you worry about it; we'll have him soon, I can feel it."

Valkyrie smiled and said brightly, "I hope you find him, and then maybe I can practice cannibalism on him the way he did with me."

Caper laughed and looked to Andrei and muttered, "You've got a strange one, Andrei."

"Oh, I'm aware of that."

"You love me!" Valkyrie retorted.

Andrei exhaled deeply and said softly, "That I do, Valkyrie." He exhaled again and gestured to Caper and asked, "Could you come with me a moment? I have something for you."

"We'll be back," Caper said as he stood. "I don't want to miss more cannibalism jokes."

Valkyrie laughed and watched them retreat. It sounded like they were headed to the kitchen. Valkyrie tossed the blankets off and tiptoed over to the door opened it as quiet as she could. She silently crept over to the banister and strained to hear their conversation.

"You can't keep a hold forever," Caper said angrily.

"Yes, like I didn't know that," Andrei muttered back. "We'll need to try something else."

"'We'? No, I won't keep doing this with you. I said I'd go with this for as long as it took, and it looks like it's wearing off. Haven't you seen it? It's getting better."

"No, no it's not."

Caper growled in frustration. "You will have to admit it sometime. You can't keep denying it all, you know."

"I will try at least."

Caper sighed and was about to say something (it sounded like, to Valkyrie) but Andrei cut him off by saying, "Come on, let's stop this. I don't want to leave Valkyrie alone for too long."

Valkyrie pushed off from the banister and crept back into the bedroom and situated herself back into a plush chair. Caper and Andrei entered the room a few seconds later, and they continued on like normal, like they hadn't just been downstairs arguing about God knows what.

And now Valkyrie could make an addition to all the things tumbling around in her brain: _what_ exactly were they talking about?

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><p><strong>Thanks for reading and sorry for any mistakes! :DD <strong>


	6. Chapter 6

Andrei finally declared Valkyrie healthy and back to normal. He still stayed one extra day with her though; the entire time, he would never let her out of his sight for more than fifteen minutes. He'd wander into the same room with her and just wouldn't leave.

The next day, he finally went back to work. Andrei reluctantly left his Valkyrie alone in the house, but she promised she would be fine and nothing would happen. His phone had rang with an urgent call from Caper Lost before Andrei could protest against Valkyrie. He left promptly after that.

Valkyrie spent the day doing what she did best: cleaning.

She swept and washed and did everything she could think of. Her mind was busy and thinking of everything and anything against her will, and no matter how hard she tried to distract herself, her mind wouldn't stop and shut up.

Those trees!

How in God's name did they disappear like that?

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><p>Andrei Dag returned home bleeding and bruised.<p>

Valkyrie rushed to his aid with bandages and cold towels. He tried to get her to step away and let him deal with it all, but she wouldn't budge and refused to let him get away from her.

"You've taken care of me," Valkyrie said as she gently wiped away the oozing blood, "and so I'm going to take care of you now."

"That's really not necessary," he mumbled and tried to stand.

Valkyrie forced him back down so he was sitting and continued to clean his wounds. "What did you get into? Who hurt you? Is Caper all right?"

"Caper is fine, yes. He and I had been looking for the man who attacked you."

"Did he do this to you?"

"No, it wasn't him, but it was one of his supporters," Andrei answered and winced as Valkyrie brushed over a nasty scrape. "He did not react kindly to us when we said we were looking for his master."

Valkyrie frowned and said, "I'm sorry I ended up causing this."

"Oh, you did nothing of the sort, dear. Don't worry about it. I'll be healed in a few days, promise."

Valkyrie spent the next few hours making sure Andrei was cleaned up and bandaged correctly. She sent him upstairs to wash the rest of himself thoroughly; she followed him and got ready for bed as she waited for him to emerge from the bathroom. Andrei opened the door after showering, and he slowly trudged over to his side of the bed. He collapsed onto his stomach and buried his face in the pillows. Valkyrie smiled and helped him get situated so he was comfortable. She stayed awake until he fell to a deserved sleep.

* * *

><p>Valkyrie woke up at the sound of the creaking stairs. She rolled over and noticed Andrei was missing. She sat up instantly and flung out of bed, ready to do whatever battles necessary. Valkyrie tiptoed across the room and almost threw open the door, but hushed voices caught her attention.<p>

"Are you sure?" a smooth voice asked.

"I am, yes," Andrei answered.

Valkyrie listened closer and heard the sound of the front door opening and closing forcefully; a car engine roared to life a few minutes later, and she ran to the hallway windows to see a dark car pull away. She lost sight of the car as it passed through the thick line of trees guarding their house. She realized she could no longer hear the engine either.

Where in the world was Andrei going?

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><p>Valkyrie stayed up the rest of the night and early morning for Andrei's return. When he didn't come home she began to get angry.<p>

She flopped down into a kitchen chair and growled in frustration. "I swear I will end his life if he doesn't return soon," she muttered darkly to the empty kitchen.

Valkyrie was just changing into sturdier clothes when the large grandfather clock in the hallway downstairs struck seven o'clock in the evening. She examined the backpack full of all sorts of necessities for her. She buttoned her jacket and applied thick leather gloves and boots and strutted down the stairs and directly out the front door. She kicked it shut and began walking.

If Andrei was to disappear suddenly, then so was she.

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><p><strong>Ugh, school...<strong>

**Anyways, hoped you liked it! Sorry for any mistakes and thanks for reading! :DD**


	7. Chapter 7

Valkyrie broke the line of dead trees and shrubbery and kept her pace steady as she trudged through the tall grass. The sun was setting on her, she realized, but this ensured Andrei would not see her if he suddenly returned.

Valkyrie stopped and turned.

You really should head back, her mind muttered to her angrily. There isn't anything out there for you. You'd be killed after five minutes? Remember last time?

"I don't care," Valkyrie whispered to herself in the night. A gust of wind suddenly attacked her, but she kept on moving strong. There wasn't going to be anything stopping her this time.

She reached the end of the expansive grass field and turned around one more time. The dead trees seemed so…horrific. Like they were zombies calling to her to come back. She shook her head and turned back and stared ahead of her. A long, long road stretched in both directions. Valkyrie spent a few moments pondering which way to turn and walk. She pulled off one of her gloves and tested the direction of the wind. It was blowing to the right. She put back on her glove and started ambling down the road.

To the right it was.

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><p>She walked for hours and hours. Hours upon hours!<p>

Valkyrie wasn't sure what time it was, but it couldn't have been any earlier than midnight, she reckoned. She continued trudging along until she could see a huge line of trees on each side of the road up ahead. A dense forest seemed to span from this line of trees. A nice hiding spot for the night, then. Valkyrie picked up her pace a little and made it to the trees quickly. She ducked under them and walked ahead a little until she entered the forest.

She walked and walked until she found what was hopefully a good spot to sit and rest for the night. There were rocks covering her from above, and a large bush grew around in a kind of circle. She settled in the middle of the rocks and bush; she was completely out of sight from anything and anyone possibly in the forest with her.

And so she settled down nice and quite comfortable in the forest under the rocks by the bush…

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><p>Valkyrie didn't sleep long. She woke up and the sun had just barely begun to rise. But she figured if she wanted to find any source of civilization soon, she had better get a move on.<p>

She stood and stretched and heard a _CLICK_ sound behind her.

"Don't move," a male voice said.

"Why must you be so threatening?" someone else asked.

Valkyrie started to turn slowly, but the first voice shouted for her to stop. Valkyrie remained frozen as two pairs of feet made their way to her hiding spot. Two men came into her line of view, and she flinched as one man roughly grabbed her backpack.

The man holding a rifle in his hands kept it pointed straight at her face. He had dirt splattered on his face and matted in his blonde and shaggy hair. He had hard green eyes that seemed like they had seen too much in their time. His clothes were rather torn and ragged. Overall, though, Valkyrie could tell he was quite young; he probably wasn't that much older than her.

Valkyrie turned to look at the man going through her backpack. His hair was brown, and his eyes were a darker and bluer shade than his partner. He looked to be older than the other man, but he was still youthful in his own way.

"There's nothing too interesting in here," he said and placed the backpack down on the ground.

"Does that mean there's something slightly interesting in there?" a new voice said.

They all turned to the source of the voice. Another man was standing on the rocks above them, with a wide smile on his face and his hands on his hips. His hair was an electrifying red color, while his eyes seemed too dark to be natural. He looked the neatest and cleanest out of them all with his jacket that matched his hair and his pants that matched his eyes.

"No, there's nothing we could possibly require or want from here. We've got plenty of food and water, don't we?"

The rifle toting man nodded his head sharply. "Let's go then. I left the truck running."

"What, you'd just leave her here!" the red haired man asked, astonished. He leaped from the rocks and next to the rifle toting man. "We can't just do that. She's seen us, we've seen her; somehow, one party will end up in jail."

The man going through the backpack took a step closer to Valkyrie and held out his hand. "Would you like to know our names if you tell us your own?"

Valkyrie regarded them all wearily. "I don't know," she eventually said. "Would he stop pointing that huge gun at my face if I do?"

"Put it down, you moron."

The man snarled and lowered the rifle.

"Well all right, I'm…Louisa."

"Did you forget for a second?" the red haired man asked. "Now we all know that's not your real name, and we expect to know your real name. Tell us what it is, lady."

"Can I ask a few questions first?" Valkyrie countered.

"Fine, go ahead."

"Elemental, adept, or necromancer?" she simply asked and crossed her arms.

The three men gasped and stepped back a little. They all looked at her strange, and they shared a look between the three of them, until the rifle toting man finally nodded. The three men stepped in closer to Valkyrie.

"My taken name is Palex Orion, and I'm an adept. I blend into the surroundings." The man who had been holding the rifle to Valkyrie's head shook her hand.

The man who went through her bag stepped forward and extended his hand and said, "I'm Wallaby Saunders. I'm an elemental."

The last and red-haired man smiled wide and cocked his hand. "Call me Holland Zix. Wallaby and I are the elementals of the group." He paused and cocked his head the other way. "Now who are you exactly?"

"My taken name is Valkyrie Cain. I'm a necromancer, but I can manage a few fireballs here and there."

"Well, now we have one of each!" Holland said excitedly, rubbing his hands together.

"Hey, that doesn't mean we're going to be taking her along with us!" Palex shouted, pointing an accusing finger at Valkyrie.

"Like I said," Holland growled, "since she's seen us and we've seen her, one of us will get reported and end up in jail!"

"She knows our names, and we know hers now," Wallaby added. "Not like we can _make_ her forget all about this nice little meeting."

Valkyrie watched the three argue. Holland and Wallaby ganged up on Palex and _demanded_ she come along with them.

"How do you know I'm not horrible?" Valkyrie asked them once they stopped shouting at each other. "I could be the worst fighter in the world. I could continuously betray you."

Holland smiled and kicked his boots in the dirt and said, "Well, since you bring up these points, I'm going to safely assume you are just bluffing. You're actually one of the greatest fighters Ireland has seen in a long time, and you would never turn your back on your fellow partners in crime."

"…Crime?"

"Just his figure of speech," Palex answered.

"Well," Wallaby said, "that's not entirely true…"

"What exactly is that supposed to mean?"

"We're not saints," Palex said gruffly. "We've had to steal a bit and we've had to hurt a few to get what we need. You can probably relate."

"The Sanctuary's been after our tails for quite a while now, admittedly," Holland said.

"Sanctuary?" Valkyrie questioned. "What's that?"

The three furrowed their eyebrows in confusion and gave her a strange look.

"How can you not know what the Sanctuary is?" Holland asked.

"It's the entire government of the magic. Not to mention they have a nasty police force against a good deal of people. Did you never hear tales about the Bloody War? The war that started practically everything bad in the world? With Lord Vile? And all those Remnants?"

Valkyrie frowned and stared at the ground. "I…I can't recall it, no." She listened to them shuffle their feet. Perhaps they weren't going to take her along with them now. "But…that can't affect your judgment of me, now can it?" she attempted. "If I don't even know about the Sanctuary, there's no easy way for me to find them and thus report you three."

"She raises a good point," Wallaby casually said. He bent and picked up her backpack and hoisted it on his shoulder. "Come on, Miss Valkyrie Cain. I think you've earned yourself a spot in the truck."

"Now hold on – !" Palex began, but Holland and Wallaby shut him up with a glare. He snarled and propped his rifle on his shoulder and began heading up the little incline back to the main road.

"This is quite the honor we're giving you," Wallaby continued after a few minutes. "Normally when we find people like you we force them to sit in the back and brave the wind."

"We also severely beat them up," Holland said. "You're lucky."

Valkyrie smiled. "Oh goody, I get to be one of the boys then."

"Palex won't like you unless you grow a pair though," Wallaby loudly said, which caused Palex to turn out angrily.

"You two are insufferable," he spat.

"Thou lovest me, I can tell," Wallaby shouted and sped up to Palex. Holland and Valkyrie kept a steady pace, and they eventually arrived at the infamous truck the three men kept referring to.

It was old, and it was beat up, and it was a strange green color, but it seemed like the three of them _loved _their old, beat up, and strangely colored truck. Palex threw his gun in the back pick-up part and hopped back with it. Holland rounded the truck and opened the driver's side door. Valkyrie, unsure of where to go, simply stopped.

"Well?" Wallaby said happily. She looked to him and noticed he was holding the door open for her. Holland nodded and gestured for her to get in.

Valkyrie Cain took a moment to look at the three men that she was, against her better judgment, going to be traveling with.

And she smiled.

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><p><strong>Thanks for reading and sorry for any mistakes! :DD<strong>


	8. Chapter 8

Perhaps going a little too fast, the truck sped down the long road.

Wallaby bobbed his head to some nonexistent music and stared out the window with his mouth hanging open; Holland kept his face stern and his eyes narrow as he kept the control on the truck; Palex, Valkyrie could see, had his arms crossed and his head down against his chest.

"Is…he angry with me?" she asked quietly.

Wallaby broke from his stupor and smiled at her. "Palex? Nah, he's just a cranky guy in general. He doesn't really like to talk to people, and new people really make him uncomfortable, but other than that, once he finally warms up to you, he would die trying to protect you. It's nice that he's got that big ass gun, too."

"Oh, it's only a little helpful," Holland agreed, laughing slightly. "But he doesn't like to find out that people were talking about him without him there. So…hush up, Wallaby."

He stuck his tongue out and turned to stare out the window again. He bobbed his head to his own music again a few moments later, and Valkyrie noticed then that Holland had gone back to his stern facial expression.

* * *

><p>"We need gas," Holland announced.<p>

"There!" Wallaby shouted and pointed across the way to a dirty gas station. They had crossed into civilized area a few minutes ago, so it was to be assumed there were be plenty of gas stations. Holland nodded and pulled the truck over to the station. He shut off the engine and meandered over to the pump to begin. Palex jumped from the back and stretched his legs. Wallaby opened his door and helped out Valkyrie.

"Oh, here's this," he said and handed her the backpack. She thanked him and propped it on the open back where Palex sat again, his legs dangling over the side. He watched her wearily as she searched through her bag.

Valkyrie suddenly began to panic. Her breathing grew fast and labored. "What the hell!" she swore.

Wallaby and Holland turned and asked what was wrong.

"I can't find…" she stopped mid-sentence and turned her entire bag upside down. Palex growled and moved out of the way as everything in there came tumbling out. Valkyrie frantically searched through her belongings until she finally gave up and slammed her fist on the truck.

"Watch it!" Palex shouted.

Wallaby was at her side; he placed his hand on her elbow. "We can…uh, we'll help."

"I can't find my rings!" she shouted. "I had them in there, I know I did!"

Wallaby suddenly froze and backed away a few feet. "Your rings?" he asked quietly and reached into his pocket. "You wouldn't mean these, would you?" In his hand were two golden bands – one with a diamond on the top, and other a simpler, plain golden one.

"Where…what?" Valkyrie was stunned. "Where did you get those?"

Wallaby bit his lip and offered them to her. "Now don't be alarmed, Miss Valkyrie Cain, but I took them from your bag there."

"You did what!" Palex suddenly shouted. "They're her wedding bands and you just _took_ them!"

"I thought she stole them!" Wallaby shouted in his defense. He turned to Valkyrie and added more calmly, "Since you weren't wearing them, I thought they weren't yours. I am sorry for this, though."

Valkyrie pursed her lips and removed her left hand glove and slid the rings on her left ring finger. "I…I'm sorry," she said quietly. "I had thought I lost them. You're…You're fine, Wallaby."

He smiled gratefully and sighed in relief. "I mean, when we meet someone like you in the woods, sleeping, we automatically assume you're a fugitive or something like that, you know?"

Valkyrie nodded, trying to smile. But her sudden…freak-out shook her. She examined her rings and sighed and looked up at the sky. She could feel Palex staring at her, and she turned sharply to him. Instead of switching his gaze to something else, he held his stare and kept his face level. Valkyrie kept her eyes trained on him, and only looked away at the loud sound of screeching tires.

"Damn," Palex swore quietly. He made sure his gun was loaded and cocked it and aimed to fire. "You might want to get out of the way," he added to Valkyrie.

She nodded and ducked and backed away slowly. Wallaby and Holland were crouching at the hood of the truck, fires in their hands.

"What are you doing?" Valkyrie hissed. "Shouldn't you help Palex?"

"We'll give him a minute," Holland answered. "See if he can shoot them away."

"What if he can't?" she questioned. "He's standing on a stationary vehicle with only a rifle; the other guys are in a moving car with enough force to plow this truck out of the way no problem."

"Well," Wallaby said casually, "we'll see if you really can fight or not." He put his hand on her shoulder and smiled at her.

The car swerved to a stop in front of their old truck and Valkyrie heard doors opening and slamming.

"Come out from behind there; you're being ridiculous," a voice called. "And put down that gun."

Wallaby and Holland rose slowly and beckoned for Valkyrie as well. They stepped around to the side of truck, but neither man extinguished the fire in their hand. She rose from her crouch and stood tall next to the two of them.

"I bring a request," a tall and slender man said, eyeing the four harshly.

"Not buying it," Holland announced, stepping forward a bit.

"Shut your mouth," the man said. "You were cowering behind that stupid truck of yours; you take the time now to be brave, when all guns are put away?"

Holland sneered at the man and strode forward. "Fine," he said through clenched teeth. "What do you request?"

"I don't want it," the man said. "However I've received a letter from the Lord himself asking you to meet with him."

"Well fine," Palex said, "let's go right now."

The tall man sighed and shook his head. "No, we won't be joining you; you'll leave there for there on your own."

"What if we never show?" Wallaby asked.

"Do you really want to disobey the Lord like that?"

Everyone was silent.

"I suppose that wouldn't be wise," Wallaby eventually muttered.

The tall man smiled and nodded and said, "I am glad you understand. The Lord expects you to be there within three days." He backed up and opened his car door and added, "Happy travels."

With that, he climbed into the car and shut the door. Someone in the driver's seat revved the engine and sped off into the expansive horizon.

Palex, Wallaby, and Holland each shared an angry and annoyed look. They turned to glance at Valkyrie, who stared simply at her black ring.

* * *

><p><strong>Palex Orion, Wallaby Saunders, and Holland Zix are named after three famous people I love. One was real yet is now dead; one is alive and perhaps not what one considers to be "famous"; the other is named after a fictional character.<br>**

**In case you were wondering. ****(Take their initials and see what you come up with.) **

**Thanks so much for reading and sorry for any mistakes! :DD**


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